An aesthetic image of an old man walking down a random alley in Tokyo with big text "Nomad Paths"

I’m a nomad. I live in Japan half the year and have complete location independence and time freedom. And I’ve been living this lifestyle (more or less) since 2017.

After years of living, working and traveling abroad, I’ve learned how to make this lifestyle a reality.

This post shares the 5 best ways to become a digital nomad this year.

Because it’s not just possible, it’s smart. The growth and experience you get as a full-time travel/nomad are unmatched.

You’ll think differently and become a new version of yourself——even if you only live this life for 1 year.

I’ve personally tried (or currently do) 4 of these 5 main nomad paths. And each one has its own pros and cons.

So let’s get into it.

1. The Remote Worker Path

This is probably the first path people think of when becoming a digital nomad: the remote worker path.

This is anyone who lives or travel abroad while working online.

There are few different sub-paths to becoming a remote worker nomad. For example, some travelers are a full-time employee while others (like me) are freelancers.

Some companies and positions let you work wherever and whenever you want. If you can find this type of job, that’s amazing. But it’s hard because of time zone differences (especially if you need to attend meetings or constant communication).

So becoming a freelancer or independent contractor is the other sub-path to becoming a remote worker nomad. This is what I’ve been doing since 2020.

I started working online with no experience or marketable skills and I just found clients through Upwork.

After doing good work (aka, actually caring and trying) for my clients, I established trust and developed a good relationship. This naturally led to more work opportunities and a sustainable income.

This type of work is super common, even if you’re not a digital nomad. If you’re new to freelancing, start where you are. You don’t need to become an expert. But leveraging your current expertise, skills, passions or knowledge is a good place to start.

You might need to start with less pay and entry level gigs. But if you keep at it, you can (pretty quickly) get experience and confidence and grow your network.

Freelancing can be hard too though. Especially if you need to find new clients every month, that grind gets old pretty quick. And relying on just one or two clients is risky (because if they leave, you’re out of money…this happened to me).

Here are some common remote jobs that digital nomads have:

Web design
Video editing
Graphic design
Digital marketing
Writing and/or content creation
Teaching English online (or any language/skill)
Tech-related jobs (like software development or AI)
Administrative jobs (VAs, publishing or customer/email support)

Explore more:
➤ Best Remote Jobs for Travelers

2. The Expat Path

The expat path was how I started my nomadic journey. With this path though, you’re not technically a “digital nomad” with full freedom to move around, but it is a great segue to that lifestyle and comes pretty dang close.

The most common way to become an expat is living and working in another country.

There are other ways to get residency overseas, but we won’t get into those here. This post and Wanderer’s Wealth have more on this topic.

So how do you become an expat? There are lots of ways.

But if you’re an English speaker, teaching English overseas is probably one of the most common and potentially easiest paths. It’s what I did——I moved to Japan and worked at an eikaiwa (English conversation school) in Tokyo.

But you can also work in hospitality or a specialized field if you have certain skills (like something in tech, research or healthcare).

Living and working overseas is an amazing experience. You can live abroad, explore a new culture and make money while traveling way more often than back home.

So if you’re not sure where to start but you know you just want to travel or live abroad, then look into working overseas. It’s totally worth it.

Explore more:
➤ Is Teaching English Abroad Worth It?
➤ How to Move to Japan

3. The Part-time Nomad Parth

“Who says you need to become a full-time nomad straight out the gate? There’s a third door and it’s becoming a part-time nomad.”

The part-time nomad embraces a semi-nomadic lifestyle. I actually wrote a full guide on this type of living/traveling (see the explore more just below).

To be honest, I still do this type of travel a lot. I’ll live abroad for a few months (or more), and then come back home for a few months to save money, visit friends and family and just relax.

It’s a fun life and one that gives you balance between living abroad and staying connected back home.

When you’re home, you work part-time jobs to save money and plan your next long-term trip overseas. For example, you can:

Drive for Uber/Uber Eats
Deliver groceries through Instacart
Go garage-sailing and sell secondhand
Do handy work or go through a temp agency
Get a part-time job at a bar/restaurant or cafe
Tap your network if you have friends/family with a business

The part-time nomad path is fun and gives you good balance. You’re also less likely to get serious homesickness and it’s easier to test the nomad lifestyle.

But it also requires more flexibility and a different type of planning to be able to come and go constantly. For example, you’ll need somewhere you can reliably stay when coming home (renting/subletting an apartment or staying with family/friends during trips back home).

I stay with my family, which makes it easy for storage and taxes.

Explore more:
➤ The Part-time Traveler Playbook

4. The Entrepreneurial Path

This way to becoming a digital nomad is getting more popular every year. It’s easier than ever before in history to start a business or make money online by selling something (a service, a product, a digital good, etcetera).

Some places are hot spots for the nomad-preneur (like Bali).

If you do go down this path, I would recommend you have a savings or part-time freelance work while you build your business (unless it’s already somewhat established).

It can take time to grow a business and focus can be an issue for some people living overseas (being an entrepreneur takes work and consistency).

But this is also one of the highest leverage most lucrative paths. I actually recommend that everyone have some type of entrepreneurial side project.

This could be starting a YouTube channel, a blog or just creating content with more intention (i.e. thinking of an audience, solving a pain point and funneling people into an email list or simple digital product).

Here are some ways to become a travelpreneur:

AI automation solutions for businesses
Start a creative/marketing agency
Coaching or consulting
Selling things online (TikTok shop, creative marketplaces, paid ads, etcetera)
Blog or vlogging
Ecommerce

Explore more:
➤ How to Start a Creative Business

5. The Volunteering Path

I’ve never tried this path before. But it’s a great option if you’re on a tight budget and have the right personality.

This path also doesn’t need to be full-time. It can be a nice way to supplement your lifestyle even if you’re a remote worker or expat.

For example, house sitting lets you travel to new places and stay for free in exchange for watching someone’s home. It’s a win-win.

Other volunteer paths include homestays or working abroad (through places like WWOOF).

Just be aware of scammy situations and use your gut. Look for companies with a good reputation, trust and if something seems off or too good to be true, listen to your intuition.

Otherwise, that’s all I’ve got for you here. Which nomad path will you try first? Let me know in the comments!

Later ✌️

Want More? Nice. Here’s More.

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